The Secret Pregnancy of the Billionaire's Ex-Wife novel Chapter 304

The Secret Pregnancy of the Billionaire’s Ex–Wife

Chapter 304: Named After You

Angela POV

The London cemetery was veiled in a gentle mist when we arrived, the pale blue sky occasionally peeking through clouds that drifted like lost thoughts.

I carried a bouquet of white lilies–Christopher’s favorite, as I’d learned from David at the funeral last year. Their fragrance filled the air around us, sweet and melancholy all at once.

The gravel crunched beneath our feet as we wound our way through ows of headstones, some ancient and weathered, others like Christopher’s–still new, the wound of loss fresh in the earth.

When we reached his grave, I paused, taking in the sight of the polished black granite that gleamed even in the subdued light, his name and dates etched in gold. Someone–his grandfather, perhaps had left fresh roses recently, their crimson petals stark against the stone’s darkness.

I knelt down, my knees pressing into the damp grass, and placed my bouquet beside the existing nearby headstone, tilting its head as if curious about our presence in this quiet place.

“Hello, Christopher,” I said softly, my voice carrying in the stillness.

rangement. A robin landed on a

Sean stood a few paces behind me, head bowed, giving me the space to speak the words that had gathered in my heart during our journey here. The robin chirped once, then flew away.

“Everyone’s lives are moving forward,” I continued, smoothing a wrinkle from the edge of a lily petal. “David actually opened that surf shop he talked about. It’s on the California coast–the ‘Blake Wave Rider,‘ he named it. He sent us a picture of himself with his first student, both soaking wet and laughing. You’d smile if you could see it.”

I pulled my cardigan tighter against the chill, my wedding ring catching a brief glint of sunlight that had broken through the clouds.

“Aria changes her mind every month about what she wants to be when she grows up. Now she wants to be a violinist. Last month it was a pilot, and before that, a veterinarian. She practices her violin every day after school, and I have to admit, the screeching sounds are… challenging. But Sean sits through every practice session, wearing headphones but pretending he’s not.”

Sean chuckled softly behind me at this observation.

“Ethan’s different though. He’s steady, like the stars he loves to watch. That telescope you gave him has become his most treasured possession. Some nights, I find him asleep by his window, star charts scattered around him.”

I traced the engraved letters of his name with my fingertip, feeling each curve and line, as if somehow I could reach through the stone to the person beneath.

“We bought the villa in Italy,” I said, my voice dropping lower. “I couldn’t bear to let strangers live there, in a place filled with so many memories–good ones, despite everything. The children spend summers there now. Aria jumps into the pool just like she did when she was three. Ethan still builds the most elaborate sandcastles on the beach.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, landing on the stone.

“Everyone’s lives keep moving forward, like rivers finding their way to the sea. Everyone except you. You’re frozen in time now, preserved in our memories exactly as you were. Sometimes it seems unfair, how the living get to continue while-”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

Sean approached then, a bottle of beer in one hand and two small glasses in the other. He sat down beside me on the grass, the leather of his jacket creaking as he settled.

1/3

Chapter 304: Named After You

Hey, nran, he said to the healstone, twisting the cap off the beer.

played hockey last week with some guys from the office. Lost embarrassingly badly.” He poured beer into the two glasses, offering one to me. “Remember when we used to play together back in college? We were unstoppable then. You with your tactical mind, me with my speed.”

He raised his glass in toast. “Here’s to past glory days and the teammates who made them possible.”

We both drank, and Sean poured a little of his beer onto the ground beside the grave. The amber liquid darkened the earth, a libation for the dead practiced since ancient times.

“Life is strange,” Sean continued, his voice thoughtful. “We’re all headed to the same final checkout counter, aren’t we? Some just get there before others.”

He looked at me, his green eyes reflecting flecks of golden sunlight. Christopher got there before us, but he made his journey count. What else can any of us hope for?”

I nodded, feeling fresh tears gather. “We have something important to tell you,” I said, my hand moving to rest on my slightly rounded belly, feeling the subtle movements of the life growing within. “I’m pregnant again. A boy, according to the tests.”

Sean reached for my hand, our fingers intertwining, wedding bands touching.

“We’ve decided on a name,” I continued, my voice steadier now. “We’re calling him Christopher. After you. Not because we’re trying to replace you–no one could. But because we want to honor what you gave us: a second chance at family, at happiness.”

The breeze picked up, scattering a few petals from the lilies across the stone. A butterfly–bright blue and unexpected–landed briefly on the headstone before fluttering away toward a patch of wildflowers growing at the cemetery’s edge.

“I think,” I said softly, watching it go, “that it’s because of death that we learn to truly cherish life. To hold the people we love a little tighter, to forgive a little easier, to laugh a little louder.”